HOW CAN YOU TELL PHEEBS & I WERE UP IN MENNONITE COUNTRY AGAIN TODAY
Kelly had some errands to run in Goderich. Rained in the night & the air was muggy with lots of bugs. Flopped into my recliner with fans going & thought, 'no way am I gonna sit here all morning'. Minutes later Pheebs & I had the windows down in the Jeep & we were off on another mystery tour. It's always a mystery because we never really know where we are going until we are almost there…………..wherever there turns out to be.
SOON THIS LITTLE COUNTRY SCHOOL HOUSE WILL BE BUSTLING WITH BOYS IN BRITCHES & GIRLS IN LONG DRESSES
HOW MANY OF US CAN REMEMBER OLD SCHOOL BELLS? I CAN………………
LAUNDRY DAY IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
SOME OF THESE MENNONITE FARMS HAVE THE NICEST FLOWER GARDENS
Swung through Clinton's Tim Hortons for a standard small coffee & carrot muffin. Soon as I turn in there & head towards the drive-thru Pheebs goes bonkers. She knows where all our stops are. From there it was out on the muddy country roads. Muddy because of the overnight rains. Didn't take us long to get the Jeep all grundged up. With every pit stop we managed between the 2 of us to drag copious amounts of mud into the Jeep. We just grinned at each other & felt very much at home. Despite a heavy overcast we did manage to find us a few photos along the way.
SHEAVES OF WHEAT ARE STACKED BY PITCHFORK & CALLED STOOKS AS IN ‘STOOKS OF WHEAT’
Our North-East travels did manage to swing us back into a westerly direction after awhile & we soon began to see the big wind turbine Monsters on the distant horizon. Figured I'd head on over that way & see what progress was being made on the towers. Closer I got the soupier the roads became as I began to encounter heavy construction machines & trucks on the recently rain soaked roads. Spotted a big 18 wheeler carrying one of the giant blades to a wind turbine site. Swung in behind the little convoy of trucks until they reached their destination. Interesting watching the big truck manoeuvre.
THESE COUNTRY ROADS WERE SURE MUDDY
THE BLADE NEARS IT’S FINAL DESTINATION IN A NEARBY FARMER’S FIELD
Spotted another wind turbine not far away with a big blade assembly hanging off the end of a crane. They were obviously hoisting the big blade hub to the top of the tower to connect it to the nacelle. It was about a quarter mile away in a field but I did manage to get a few photos. Wasn't until I enlarged the photos later at home that I noticed a construction worker atop the nacelle at one end waiting for the big blade assembly to be swung into place & fitted. Unfortunately I was running out of time & couldn't wait to see the final connection. I did manage to get a last photo from a different angle though showing the joining almost complete. Had to be home by 1:30.
Reason I had to be home was kind of coincidentally linked to these many wind turbines in a round about but maybe direct way. We had a fellow coming at 1:30 to have a look at our aging & costly electric furnace & give us a quote on swapping it out for a new gas one. Our monthly electric bill has become crippling. The cost of electricity has gone through the roof & Ontario now has the distinction of having the most expensive electric rates in North America. Kelly & I & millions of others here in Ontario have alarmingly watched our monthly bills sky rocket these past years & months. We know of the gross mis-management of our electric company called Hydro One but what we hadn't realized according to this WIND ONTARIO article was how this whole wind turbine project could very well be part & parcel of our escalating rates. I did read the article & must admit I did think about half a dozen points were exaggerated but other than that I think there is a lot of food for thought in this Wind Ontario website. And again, politics, politics, politics:((
WASN’T UNTIL I CROPPED THE PHOTO I NOTICED THE CONSTRUCTION WORKER ATOP THE NACELLE
THESE VIEWS ARE FROM WEST OF THE WIND TURBINE
THIS VIEW FROM THE EAST SHOWS THE TWO SEPARATE COMPONENTS NEARING CONNECTION
Sure is worrisome with this deluge of rain in our area of Congress Arizona these past few days. What will we find when we reach our little adobe ranch house sometime in probably late October. Will our new roof on the north end of the house have done it’s job? Will the small leak between the living & dining room have worsened? What about the stuff in our garden shed, did I remember to get things high up enough from the floor knowing it does have water flow in there? We haven’t heard anything from the folks keeping an eye on our place so we’re thinking maybe no news is maybe good news. Hope my utility trailer hasn’t floated away. We do love our little place there but sometimes we think maybe we are just toooooo far away for toooooo long a period of time…………………….
ALL OF TODAY’S PHOTOS WERE AGAIN TAKEN FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT
GROANER'S CORNER:(( A small town prosecuting attorney called his first witness to the stand in a trial -- a grandmotherly, elderly woman. He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?" She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a rising big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you." The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?" She again replied, "Why, yes I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. I used to babysit him for his parents. And he, too, has been a real disappointment to me. He's lazy, bigoted, he has a drinking problem. The man can't build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes, I know him." At this point, the judge rapped the courtroom to silence and called both counsellors to the bench. In a very quiet voice, he said with menace, "If either of you asks her if she knows me, you'll be jailed for contempt!"
I have the same type of situation with my electric company. There is a new huge Duke Energy Power Plant being built in SW Indiana. I'm sure I am paying for some of that but they don't itemize it. Instead for 17 years I've had to pay a "building fee" of now $32 per month. I told them that buys a lot of buildings, paved parking, lawn car and even their own wind power tower out front of their building.
ReplyDeleteThey have no explanation for the fee.
You say you are moving to gas but in my area gas in the winter is outrageous, higher per month than some mortgages.
Do your local people like all of the wind turbines being installed? Seems like a large number of them in the area.
Al, your groaner is a good one, but the grandmother's name changed. She started out as Mrs. Jones. Then Mr. Williams calls her Mrs Williams. Thought you'd want to fix it. Thanks for all the time you spend on the gift of your blog!
ReplyDeleteI just had no idea how huge those blades were till I saw your photos. I know it is controversial, but I still think these wind turbines are graceful and beautiful, so much prettier than coal smoke spilling into the skies that we saw down on the Navajo reservation near Page. We seem to be parasites on the planet one way or the other. I guess we just have to do the best we can.
ReplyDeleteThose truck drivers sure know how to squeeze those HUGE loads through tiny places....would have been neat to follow.
ReplyDeleteWe live near Amish Country here in Ohio and always enjoy watching them use a team of horses to work the fields. They sure have beautiful farms!
It is amazing just to watch them manoeuvre these huge turbine parts and assembling them all over this area.
ReplyDeleteFascinating to see the contrast between the stacks of wheat done by fork and the crane constructing the large turbine. Unless we're willing to live like the Amish community we must be ready to embrace the reality of turbines :-).
ReplyDeleteAl, the very same price development on electric energy has happened in Europe where huge wind farms have been erected. Producing energy by way of wind is much much costlier than conventional energy production of fossil fuels. Unfortunately!
ReplyDeleteYou have sooo many neat places to go up there....All we have here right now are corn and bean fields...and that corn is the tallest I have ever seen it!!!
ReplyDeleteOne big plus of full timing. No electric or gas company to deal with. Of course, increases in electric cost does influence RV park costs. If they get to high, we to may go solar.
ReplyDeleteThose nacelles are made here in my hometown of Hutchinson, KS. I read in our local paper that a lot of them were going to your community.
ReplyDelete